Sparked by a Richard Dawkins tweet , in which he drew a parallel between Islamists and Nazis, Nathan Lean recently suggested on Salon.com that the most famous representatives of the new atheism "flirt with" Islamophobia [echoing Chris Stedman's prescient warning to fellow atheists on RD this past August]. As the article explains, Dawkins, Hitchens ... (more)

<quoted text>Kmer Rouge WAS a religion-- it acted >>exactly<< like all religions do-- it murdered any competition.So you lose your argument.Again.

Actually, the KR were sort of sui generis. They wanted to build a pure agrarian communist state. So, they did away with money, religion, private ownership of land, the entire education system, anything and anyone who had been part of the former government, down to very minor functionaries. They wanted to essentially dismantle the entire social structure and start over again from scratch. Hence, they referred to the first year of their rule as "Year Zero".

They regarded anyone who grew up in earlier times with suspicion, as potential counter-revolutionaries because they remembered a different society. One of the first groups they slaughtered was the KR troops who owed loyalty to the former king. The king had been deposed in a coup sponsored by the CIA. He formed an alliance with the KR. Each group planned to eliminate the other after they jointly overthrew the US sponsored government. The original KR was much more ruthless than the royalists who joined to support the king, and the royalists were among the first casualties.

They were also ultra-nationalists. Even though the NVA and Viet Kong were also communists, and sent troops to help the KR fight the US backed Lon Nol Government, the KR still hated the Vietnamese.(Hatred of the Vietnamese has long roots in Cambodia, going back centuries. In fact, the usual Cambodian word for Vietnam/Vietnamese, "yuon" also means "barbarian". One of the big points of the current opposition parties is that the PM, Hun Sen, was originally installed by the Vietnamese when they invaded and drove the KR out of power.)

They also hated the US, and were paranoid about possible CIA attempts to overthrow them. No surprise there. Between 1965 and 1973, the US dropped over 2,500,000 tons of ordnance on Cambodia. Just for perspective, during WWII, all of the Allies dropped about 2,000,000 tons of bombs in all theaters, combined. It is even more remarkable when you consider that the US was not even at war with Cambodia during that time. The KR used the bombing, and their own virulently anti-American stance as a recruiting point.

So, crazy as they were, their delusions did not stem from religion. Nor, particularly from Karl Marx, although they claimed to be marxist. While they shared the common idea about ownership of the means of production, Marx would not have recognized much else in their ideas. Given the virulent anti-intellectualism of the KR, it is safe to say that if Marx had lived in Cambodia, the KR would have killed him.

evangelical atheist = one who not only believes there is no god or other supreme being, but is obsessed with convincing everyone around them to become an atheist too, usually through hard-line intolerance (the kind they accuse other religions of).When cornered they usually try to put down their opponent's religion and bash them for 'blind faith', not realizing that their belief that there is no god is no more or less valid or provable than the other guy's belief that there is one.

but what is more common is regular atheists proving that the religious cults, and the gods they created ARE false. provably false.

and since there is not one shred of evidence for any god, gods or goddesses, it is not a question of belief or disbelief, the question hasn't even come up yet.

facts are fun! lying about others to support his cult is Lincoln's job...

They had come to pray.Terry and Martha were among them, out-of-state visitors attending a business convention at the Westin Copley Place hotel. They walked across the square and into Trinity Church for a few moments of quiet.“Prayer is a part of my daily life, and praying for others is who I am,” Saunders said, touching her heart.“I do that every day, but I’m especially drawn to this place because of the tragedy.”For P, who arrived from Virginia on Tuesday when the square remained off-limits, the serenity of the church’s soaring Romanesque interior provided “peace in the middle of a storm, and this was a big one.”Old South opened its doors at 8 a.m., Trinity at 9 a.m., as the shaken neighborhood ­reclaimed some of the color and bustle of a normal weekday. Tourists and lunch-hour walkers crisscrossed the square, others lay on the lawn to be warmed by the sun, and Red Sox fans hustled to an afternoon game at Fenway Park.But leaders at both churches knew that normalcy was an illusion. Thousands of people stopped to reflect and gaze at the crosses, notes, and flowers left for the victims at the makeshift memorial, which had been moved from Boylston and Berkeley streets. Knots of onlookers paused throughout the day at two bombing sites on Boylston Street to reflect and to record their visit with photos.“The Christian bumper sticker, to me, is ‘new life out of death,’ and that is what we’re living right now,” said the Rev. Patrick C. Ward, associate rector at Trinity Church.“Death is never the last word.”

yes, many people need myths to help them through life's trials and troubles. many of us do not.

we do not need the false promise of another life to make this life worth living.

<quoted text>Actually, the KR were sort of sui generis. They wanted to build a pure agrarian communist state. So, they did away with money, religion, private ownership of land, the entire education system, anything and anyone who had been part of the former government, down to very minor functionaries. They wanted to essentially dismantle the entire social structure and start over again from scratch. Hence, they referred to the first year of their rule as "Year Zero".They regarded anyone who grew up in earlier times with suspicion, as potential counter-revolutionaries because they remembered a different society. One of the first groups they slaughtered was the KR troops who owed loyalty to the former king. The king had been deposed in a coup sponsored by the CIA. He formed an alliance with the KR. Each group planned to eliminate the other after they jointly overthrew the US sponsored government. The original KR was much more ruthless than the royalists who joined to support the king, and the royalists were among the first casualties.They were also ultra-nationalists. Even though the NVA and Viet Kong were also communists, and sent troops to help the KR fight the US backed Lon Nol Government, the KR still hated the Vietnamese.(Hatred of the Vietnamese has long roots in Cambodia, going back centuries. In fact, the usual Cambodian word for Vietnam/Vietnamese, "yuon" also means "barbarian". One of the big points of the current opposition parties is that the PM, Hun Sen, was originally installed by the Vietnamese when they invaded and drove the KR out of power.)They also hated the US, and were paranoid about possible CIA attempts to overthrow them. No surprise there. Between 1965 and 1973, the US dropped over 2,500,000 tons of ordnance on Cambodia. Just for perspective, during WWII, all of the Allies dropped about 2,000,000 tons of bombs in all theaters, combined. It is even more remarkable when you consider that the US was not even at war with Cambodia during that time. The KR used the bombing, and their own virulently anti-American stance as a recruiting point.So, crazy as they were, their delusions did not stem from religion. Nor, particularly from Karl Marx, although they claimed to be marxist. While they shared the common idea about ownership of the means of production, Marx would not have recognized much else in their ideas. Given the virulent anti-intellectualism of the KR, it is safe to say that if Marx had lived in Cambodia, the KR would have killed him.

they were, in fact, the epitome of a cult.

their they replaced religion with their own dogma. much closer to a religious cult than any atheist society.

no, allah is the abrahamic god. the same one you worship. this is why your sect and theirs have so much in common. a god saying it is OK to kill people who do not believe. having slaves. intolerance of difference. subjugation of women.

<quoted text> Ok lets then look at developed countries only . Among the least Religious developed countries are France, Japan and South Korea, which do NOT make the list of happiest places on Earth. The USA and Ireland which are the most Religious developed countries do..As I said get rid of the Nordic countries and there seems to be no relationship between a country being happy or unhappy.Perhaps being surrounded by Hot blondes has more to do with it then anything else.France should be a happier place then Ireland if your premise was true.

they have the best educated kids and the highest standards of living. and the healthiest people.

depending on what you rate as happiness. that is a very subjective term.

<quoted text>Atheism = a lack of belief in god.Please circle the following words in the previous sentence: murder, genocide, mass plagues, curses, russian dictatorship,Exactly you lying piece of sh*t.Nobody has ever killed in the name of atheism. Because atheism isn't a name or a belief.Keep trying creationsh*t troll. I enjoy showing you up again and again.You make more atheists than any other troll.

'atheism is [the inmate's] religion, and the group that he leads is religious in nature even though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being. A religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being,(or beings, for polytheistic faiths) nor must it be a mainstream faith." Thus, the court concluded, atheism is equivalent to religion for purposes of the First Amendment

<quoted text>no, no it didn't. your own bible proved the god your cult created is false.there is not one shred of evidence for any real gods.

I guess evidence is in the eye of the beholder.

"DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual."Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, and author of The Language of God,(Free Press, New York, NY), 2006

I got a full instruction manual with my car. I believe someone wrote it. Just saying.

<quoted text>'atheism is [the inmate's] religion, and the group that he leads is religious in nature even though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being. A religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being,(or beings, for polytheistic faiths) nor must it be a mainstream faith." Thus, the court concluded, atheism is equivalent to religion for purposes of the First AmendmentKAUFMAN v. McCAUGHTRY(2005)U.S.Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

<quoted text>I guess evidence is in the eye of the beholder."DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual."Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, and author of The Language of God,(Free Press, New York, NY), 2006I got a full instruction manual with my car. I believe someone wrote it. Just saying.

tha in no way even suggests a god.

if it did, it would suggest every god ever invented by man, unless you have some facts that show your god is more plausible than any of the other thousands created by the cults.

<quoted text>'atheism is [the inmate's] religion, and the group that he leads is religious in nature even though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being. A religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being,(or beings, for polytheistic faiths) nor must it be a mainstream faith." Thus, the court concluded, atheism is equivalent to religion for purposes of the First AmendmentKAUFMAN v. McCAUGHTRY(2005)U.S.Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

The wording is discreditable to (and causes some laughter at) the US Court of appeals. They managed to uphold the inmate's rights and expose their own religiously twisted thinking too.

<quoted text>The wording is discreditable to (and causes some laughter at) the US Court of appeals. They managed to uphold the inmate's rights and expose their own religiously twisted thinking too.Religion = superstition

perhaps, more accurately, religious cults are based on superstition. it's just that all of the current religions are based on superstition, and thus are cults.

<quoted text> Ok lets then look at developed countries only . Among the least Religious developed countries are France, Japan and South Korea, which do NOT make the list of happiest places on Earth. The USA and Ireland which are the most Religious developed countries do..As I said get rid of the Nordic countries and there seems to be no relationship between a country being happy or unhappy.Perhaps being surrounded by Hot blondes has more to do with it then anything else.France should be a happier place then Ireland if your premise was true.

So ... when you ignore parts of the data, your religious garbage seems less like garbage. You are a perfect example of a creationist.

<quoted text>I guess evidence is in the eye of the beholder."DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual."Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, and author of The Language of God,(Free Press, New York, NY), 2006I got a full instruction manual with my car. I believe someone wrote it. Just saying.

<quoted text>tha in no way even suggests a god.if it did, it would suggest every god ever invented by man, unless you have some facts that show your god is more plausible than any of the other thousands created by the cults.so you have this?

No other god professes to have existed before time, matter, energy or space. That would certainly make my God more plausible than every other god.

It took science until the 20th century to catch up with "in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth." In an unpublished paper written in 1922, Roman Catholic Jesuit priest Georges Lemaitre, Father of the Big Bang theory, wrote that he believed that the universe had begun in light "as Genesis suggested it."

…"What is the ultimate solution to the origin of the Universe? The answers provided by the astronomers are disconcerting and remarkable. Most remarkable of all is the fact that in science, as in the Bible, the world begins with an act of creation."

Astronomer Robert Jastrow, Chief of the Theoretical Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1958-61) and Founder/Director of NASA 's Goddard Institute; Professor of Geophysics at Columbia University; Professor of Space Studies-Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College.

"the probability of a purely random origin for any sequence of even the most basic biological significance is so small as to be negligible. Information and intelligence are fundamental to the existence of the universe and life and, far from being the end products of an unguided natural process starting with energy and matter, they are involved from the very beginning"

John Carson Lennox ,Professor of Mathematics] at the University of Oxford, Fellow in Mathematics, Philosophy of Science and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College of Oxford University. Author of "God and Stephen Hawking, Whose design is it Anyway?"

<quoted text>No other god professes to have existed before time, matter, energy or space. That would certainly make my God more plausible than every other god.It took science until the 20th century to catch up with "in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth." In an unpublished paper written in 1922, Roman Catholic Jesuit priest Georges Lemaitre, Father of the Big Bang theory, wrote that he believed that the universe had begun in light "as Genesis suggested it."…"What is the ultimate solution to the origin of the Universe? The answers provided by the astronomers are disconcerting and remarkable. Most remarkable of all is the fact that in science, as in the Bible, the world begins with an act of creation."Astronomer Robert Jastrow, Chief of the Theoretical Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1958-61) and Founder/Director of NASA 's Goddard Institute; Professor of Geophysics at Columbia University; Professor of Space Studies-Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College.

ummm, yeah, there were many.

you are forgetting that your made up bible gets the creation story wrong. the Earth and all the plants on it were not formed before the sun. we know this as fact. the moon was not formed at the same time as the sun, we know this as fact.

<quoted text>ummm, yeah, there were many.you are forgetting that your made up bible gets the creation story wrong. the Earth and all the plants on it were not formed before the sun. we know this as fact. the moon was not formed at the same time as the sun, we know this as fact.how would a infallible god get his own creations story incorrect?no, you cult has no more credibility than any other man-made cult.

Tell me when this thread is updated:

Add your comments below

Please note by submitting this form you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator. Send us your feedback.